Monday, June 9, 2008

Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. It is roughly the same size as the conterminous United States and 50 per cent larger than Europe. Yet Australia has the lowest population density of any country in the world. With 4 million inhabitants, Sydney is Australia's largest city. It is also the capital of New South Wales, the country's most densely populated state. Sydney is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, national parks and deep-water inlets to the north and south, and the spectacular Blue Mountains far to the west. These natural boundaries have influenced Sydney's urban growth patterns. Over the past several decades, the city's expansion has been largely westward toward the Blue Mountains, as can be seen in these two satellite images. As suburbs sprawl into bushland, they become vulnerable to summer bush fires. View detail information

About Atlas of Our Changing Environment

Atlas of Our Changing Environment is a comprehensive visual overview of the nature and extent of human impact on the planet. The Atlas provides visual evidence of global environmental change through a combination of ground photographs, current and historical satellite images, and narratives based on extensive scientific evidence. This blog is not only useful for creating collective environmental intelligence on local and global problems; it also underscores the intrinsic value of communications technologies for information exchange between people that care about the environment across the globe.View UNEP Atlas Website